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News
December 21, 2010
ACHE-SETC and ACHE-AHCLA Receive International Recognition in Gaziantep Turkey at Healthcare Conference
ACHE – SouthEast Texas Chapter (ACHE-SETC) and the Asian
Healthcare Leaders Association (AHCLA) as well as the AHCLA caucus
of the ACHE-SETC were well represented at the Sixth International
Conference on Healthcare Systems held at the Zirve University
campus, Gaziantep, Turkey, from October 20-22, 2010. Dr.
Ashish Chandra, Chair of the Healthcare Administration
Program of the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) (located in
the Texas Medical Center) and member of the Board of Directors of
both the ACHE-SETC and the AHCLA along with Dr. Fevzi Akinci,
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Zirve University
were instrumental in organizing this extremely successful conference
as the Conference Co-Program Chairs.
ACHE-SE Texas was also represented by key leaders, educators, and
student namely Mr. Raymond Khoury,
Executive-in-Residence, Healthcare Administration Program, UHCL,
Mr. Don Gibson, Executive Director of Operations for ACHE
– SETC, Mr. Anup Bodhe, MHA/MBA graduate student, UHCL
(and past recipient of two ACHE-SETC scholarships) and Dr.
William B. Stroube, Program Director of the Healthcare
Administration Program at the University of Evansville. All
these individuals served on the plenary opening session, which was a
panel session moderated by Dr. Ashish Chandra, pertaining to the
value of networking in the healthcare industry and the role that
ACHE-SETX has played in such efforts. This session provided
panelists an opportunity to promote the local ACHE-SETX chapter,
particularly how valuable it has been for students as well as the
value of ACHE membership and networking, and the AHCLA. Mr. Anup
Bodhe also made a presentation regarding the often ignored and
underappreciated pivotal role of facility planning on behalf of WHR
Architects, his current employer and a key sponsor of the ACHE-SETC
as well as a supporter of the Healthcare Administration program at
UHCL.
Historically, this international conference was developed by the
University of Houston-Clear Lake in collaboration with the
Autonomous University of Queretaro, Mexico in May 2000 and
spearheaded by Dr. Paul Bruder, current faculty member of UHCL
Healthcare Administration. Given the tremendous success of the first
conference, it was agreed by most of the delegates that this
conference be held every two years and will be primarily organized
by a host institution with the assistance of some other key
institutions and individuals who have been an integral component of
this conference from its inception and have been instrumental in the
success of this extremely important means of exchanging information,
learning, and networking for healthcare administration faculty,
students, and practitioners. The second international conference was
held in Ankara, Turkey in July 2002 where Dr. Adnan Kisa, now
President of Zirve University, Gaziantep, Turkey, was highly
successful as the conference Program Chair and was a very gracious
host. The third international conference was held in
Charleston, WV, and this is the first time that it was held in the
US and Dr. Ashish Chandra, served as the conference program chair.
The fourth was held in Bratislava, Slovakia (conference program
chair - Dr. Viera Rusnakova) and the fifth was held in Milwaukee, WI
(conference program chair - Dr. Mary K. Madsen).
Similar to the success of the past five conferences, this
particular conference had a very diverse and strong program that
helped in fostering relationships between healthcare academics and
practitioners of many countries. Academicians, professionals, and
students from Georgia, Taiwan, Turkey, The Turkish Republic of North
Cyprus, and the United States, to name a few, participated at this
conference. One of the unique values that this conference has is its
established and ongoing relationship with the following journals:
Hospital Topics, Health Care Manager, and The International Journal
of Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Marketing.
Conference attendees were very impressed with the "royal
treatment" they received from various gracious hosts (Mr. Tanner
Nakiboglu, Chair, Board of Trustees, Zirve University, and President
Dr. Adnan Kisa, Zirve University; Bilal Ceker, President of Primer
Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey; Mr. Cahit Nakiboglu, Chair, Gaziantep
Organized Industrial Zone Board; Gaziantep Mayor, The Honorable Dr.
Asim Guzelbey; Professor Dr. M. Yavuz Coskun, President, Gaziantep
University, that opened their hearts and facilities for touring to
provide insight into the educational programs, history of Turkey and
Gaziantep, and delivery of healthcare.
In 2012 UHCL Healthcare Administration Program, TMC will serve as
the host for the Seventh International Conference on Healthcare
Systems and Dr. Ashish Chandra has agreed to serve on as the
conference program chair for that conference as well. The support of
local healthcare and educational institutions is highly critical in
making the next conference a success. We as ACHE-SETC members would
like to plan on proving support for the success of this conference
and most of our healthcare organizations can play a significant role
to show our guests an unforgettable experience during their visit to
Houston as well as what the healthcare arena in Houston has for the
local and global health customers.
In the photo on the stage, here are the details (from left):
Moderator: Ashish Chandra, Chair and Professor,
University of Houston-Clear Lake, Houston, TX, USA
Member, Board of Directors, Asian Healthcare Leaders Association
Member, Board of Directors, American College of Healthcare
Executives – Southeast Texas
Executive Editor, Hospital Topics
Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Pharmaceutical
and Healthcare Marketing
Editorial Board Member, Health Care Manager
Past President of:
Business Health Administration Association
Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators
MBAA International
Federation of Business Disciplines
William B. Stroube, Director and Professor of
Healthcare Administration, University of Evansville,
Evansville, Indiana, USA
Past President, Business and Health Administrators Association
Raymond Khoury, Executive-in-Residence, University of
Houston-Clear Lake, Houston, TX, USA
Ex-CEO St. John Hospital, Nassau Bay, Texas, USA
Ex-CEO St. Joseph Hospital, Houston Texas, Texas, USA
Ex-VP Christus Health System, Houston, Texas, USA
Ex-CEO, St. Francis Health System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Don Gibson, President, Quantum Leadership, Inc.,
Houston, TX, USA
Executive Director of Operations, American College of Healthcare
Executives – SouthEastTexasChapter
Anup Bodhe, WHR Architects, Inc., Houston, Texas, USA
Medical Planner and Healthcare Designer
In the panel session, Dr. Chandra represented the AHCLA and Don
Gibson represented ACHE-SETC. Then both discussed about the
AHCLA caucus within ACHE-SETC. Since the meeting was
technically in Asia, there was a lot of interest shown by delegates.
Dr. Chandra also mentioned about the various well known healthcare
organizations that are located in Houston.
In the second picture, conference attendees gather outside the
Zirve Univesity for a photo op with the President of Zirve
University, Dr. Adnan Kisa (standing on the front row between Dr.
Ashish Chandra, University of Houston-Clear Lake and Dr. Fevzi
Akinci, Zirve University, the Conference Co-Program Chairs)
In the third picture, it is (from left): Mr. Raymond Khoury;
Mr. Don Gibson; Dr. Ashish Chandra; Dr. Sahin Kavuncubasi
(from Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey), and Anup Bodhe.
(ALL the ones underlined are members of ACHE)
Mr. Bilal Ceker, President of Primer Hospital, Gaziantep,
graciously hosted the delegates of the conference for a tour of his
hospital. In the fourth picture, Mr. Ceker presented a bouquet
of flowers to Dr. Chandra to accept as a welcome to all the
delegates and in the fifth picture he generously presented all the
delegates with a gorgeous Turkish coffee serving set to all the
delegates which was received by Dr. Chandra, UHCL and Dr. Joyce
Fitzpatrick of Case Western Reserve University.
The day before that start of the conference, The University of
Houston-Clear Lake also signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
with Zirve University. In the sixth picture, the MOU signing
(from left, Dr. Ashish Chandra, UHCL, Br. Mrinal Mugdh, Associate VP
for Academic Affairs, UHCL, Dr. Adnan Kisa, President, Zirve
University, and Dr. Fevzi Akinci, Vice President for Academic
Affairs, Zirve University).
Dr. Chandra, Mr. Khoury, and Mr. Gibson reiterated that even
though we were representing UHCL, ACHE-SETC, and AHCLA each of our
organizations strive for the improving global health and we will be
happy to help them in future endeavors.